In particular in the drying section of a paper machine, a great deal of energy is needed to dry the paper web—an increase in the energy efficiency of the drying section can have a significant effect on the overall production costs. Occasionally, the drying section is also the “bottleneck” with respect to the throughput of the plant, i.e. the throughput can be raised by means of improved drying.
In order to save energy, it is known to use intelligent controllers, such as the “Dryer Management System” from Kadant Johnson, which models the drying in the actual drying section, substantially comprising drying cylinders and dryer hood, of a paper machine.